FaithStatic

Saturday, 24 December 2016

This is not a post to boast. And before you say anything, it's not a crime to rhyme. I'll stop now and get to the point.

I am proud, for I stood up against the vicious tides that took away so many, and I said no, it's just not my time yet.

No, it's not life or death I'm talking about, but the metaphor is appropriate and on point nonetheless.

I'm only halfway through my gap year, and I already know it was the best decision of my life. I have been blessed with some incredible opportunities in life, but this one I believe I was able to create, with the support and wise words of a mere minority, the enlightened few. I am forever grateful and in debt to those beautiful souls - you know who you are.

So here's a toast to all the cultures I got to, and will continue to discover and appreciate, to all the amazing people which with every single word that came out of their mouths have further convinced me that I am on the right path, and that my happiness is priceless, that I should never ever compromise because the system, the establishment, the status quo says so.

Live for you and for your happiness only. Chase your dreams. Forget following the herd and lead your own path, tomorrow is never assured.

Tuesday, 29 March 2016

Ever seen that stupid dress that was all over the internet a
while ago, you know, the one where people were arguing over whether it was gold
or some other colour, as if there’s no problems left in the world to discuss,
as if anyone even fucking cares?

Well, I don’t even know why I used that analogy really, but I guess
it’s the best way I can try and begin to explain what I’ve been going through
these past few days, if I can explain it at all that is…

So now imagine this - you're that stupid dress. Except of
course, you’re not stupid, and you’re not a dress. But you just have no clue
whether you’re gold, blue or some other shit you never even considered for that
matter.

You’re literally a stranger to yourself. What are you
thinking? What are you feeling? What is it you want?

Yes, it’s often difficult to make decisions in life or act upon
things. But for the most part, you have a pretty good idea of what’s going
through your head and what you’re feeling, right?

What do you do when you wake up one day and realise you have absolutely no clue
what you’re feeling. No clue what you’re thinking. No clue what you want… Thoughts rushing through your mind, each one contradicting the last...

Maybe you tell yourself it's just not your day... You distract yourself. You drink. You deny and ignore it, all in an effort to protect yourself from...yourself... You almost feel you've got it all under control...

...And then you wake up the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that, too, feeling exactly the same.

Where do you go from there? How do you win this battle against your very own self?

Sunday, 31 January 2016

This one’s a common battle for me these days. When you take
a step back and try to rationalise with all the thoughts going through your
mind, you realise how ridiculous it is. You remember that the universe is built
upon change. Days go by, seasons change, people are brought into and taken from
this world every second, planets continuously orbit, air moves, people change…I
could go on and on. It’s all around us.

And yet the majority of us want to stay still. Stay where
you are, keep doing what you do, remain satisfied with what you have. Why?
Because everything’s fine. Sure, you don’t live the perfect life, but then
again who does? You’ve got a job. It may not be your dream job, but it pays the
bills. You’ve got a family. You’ve got friends. You’re happy where you are. At
least you feel that way. Nothing needs to change. The risk that comes with
change is too great, right? Might as well stay put.

Wait a second though - how can you know and say that things
are fine the way they are and that you’re happy where you are, without trying
something else? Have you really been around, seen all that’s on offer?

Open your eyes and take a look around you. You know the
successful people, the dreamers who made it by persevering through what was
perhaps deemed impossible? What do they have that you don’t?

I think I know the answer to this one. I think it’s actually
something you have that they don’t which is stopping you from being like them,
keeping you from your dreams.

It’s the fear of stepping out of your comfort zone. Fear of the unknown.

You might think at this point that I sound like I’ve got it
all figured out, and that I’m not like you. Or perhaps you think I have no idea
what I’m on about :)

Actually, we’re on the same team, fighting the same fight. I
have a decision pending, and regardless of what I decide I am about to embark
on a new journey, a new chapter of my life. And I have no fucking clue what I
want to do. My heart says one thing, my mind says another, friends and family
another. I’m happy with the way things are, and I really wish I didn’t have to make
this decision right now. In other words, I don’t want to step out of this
comfort zone I’ve created for myself over the years. But sometimes, you just
hear change calling out for you. You feel it.Sometimes, you just need to start
listening, to open up your heart to new possibilities…

This piece is a reflection of some of my inner dialogue, and
I hope those of you reading this can relate. At the very worst though, I will
use this as a reminder to myself of how ridiculous our resistance against
change is, and how people who are happy to step out of their comfort zone and
take risks are the true winners of this game we call life.

So here’s a toast to the uncertainties that lie ahead and
the beauty of life, which is dependent upon the unknown, the unforeseen, the
untold. Here’s a toast to change, to the new experiences, friendships and
memories that are yet to be made and engraved in our hearts and minds forever.

Tuesday, 27 October 2015

Fear. It’s fucking everywhere. It’s been embedded into our
lives ever since day one. The media, the corporations, the rich and the powerful,
those in charge. They all want us to fear something. In the quest for their own
wealth and success, they deliberately and shamelessly attempt to imprison us in chains, to limit our capacities and put barriers between us and reality, us and our dreams, our
ideals...

This fear is often presented to us in the form of “these guys are evil” or “this is bad
for you, if you do that you’re in trouble” or in the form of a fairy tale specifically designed to distract you from the bigger picture.

They tap into our
subconscious every single day, and most of us never even notice it. What’s the
point of having free speech if everyone’s been influenced into a specific
pattern of thinking, particularly one which almost always is driven by the agenda of those in
charge of “the system”.

False Expectations Appearing Real

We’ve got to question things, be curious. It's 2015 – we have
no excuse for not being able to do so. The number of resources we have nowadays
thanks to the continuous development of technology is insane. Let’s make use of
everything that’s been put out there for us in our pursuit of the truth. Let’s
break those chains that have taken our ability to think for ourselves captive. It’s about time we know right from wrong, and ensure those
in power are doing what is in the best interest of society as a whole rather
than for their own personal agendas.

Another form of fear comes from within ourselves. There may
be external factors involved, but ultimately, fear is something we feel
internally, and thus it can only thrive for as long as we
allow it to. The majority of our fears are not life threatening or life
defining. We have to remember this.

Whatever it is causing the fear is
something that comes and goes, and it will pass, and those moments will be a
blip on the radar in the tale that is your life. So don’t give these irrational fears the power to imprison
you. Don't let them suck the joy out of your life and stop you from doing things that you might actually enjoy or learn from!

I’ve certainly allowed fear to take hold of me in the past, and I still face the
situations you may be going through as well, but remember – you are not the
only one in the world who feels this way, you’re more than capable of facing whatever
comes your way, and whatever it is you’re fearing, when you face that fear, it’s never as bad as you
imagine it to be.

It’s time to set ourselves free.

If you find this post useful, I highly suggest you watch
this excellent talk by Les Brown, helped me a lot! Also, please follow the blog if you enjoy my posts :)

Saturday, 8 August 2015

“It’s a boy” she cried, “We have a son!” She grasped him
with her loving hands, as if she would never let him go again. She froze,
speechless. Tears of joy brushed across her exasperated face, like an endless
stream. He stared at her with passion, emotions stirring, disbelief that he was
now a father and both the excitement and fear of having to take on a world of
responsibility and commitment.

Two blocks down. The desperate screams of a little girl wake
up an entire neighbourhood, yet no one lifts a finger. Her dad, intoxicated as
usual, beating her, as if the innocent soul, his very own blood was some sort
of predator out to get him. Sickening.

Cross country. A 17 year old kid, tired, beat and alone
standing on the very edge of a bridge, desperately trying to find a reason to
keep holding on to the railings but failing to do so. The wind brushes across
his cheeks in perfect synchronisation with the memories of his self-deemed
worthless life flashing before his eyes. He takes in a deep breath. “Fuck it”
he says. “Fuck all of it”. He surrenders to gravity, letting go of the tightly
gripped railings. Just as he is about to go into freefall, he notices an
unfamiliar warmth around his chest. Yes, it’s the warmth of a loving, kind
stranger who’s come from nowhere to provide the kid with that feeling he’s been
longing for all his life – the feeling that there’s someone out there who
cares. The feeling that love, friendship and compassion is still possible. Some
would call this hope. And from that moment onwards, he had a reason to hold on,
to keep fighting, to live for another day.

And then there’s me. And there’s you. We all have our own
stories, our own challenges. And then there’s billions of others. I think we all
need to remember this more often. Sometimes we get caught up in a moment,
anxious, worried or excited, and we feel as though the world revolves around
us. Every single second these things are happening – and we are certainly not
the centre of the universe. We are all unique and important in our own way, but
sometimes we need to ground ourselves and remember our place. Our thoughts and
feelings are important, but they are not enough to change every single thing
that goes on around us to be the way we want them to be. We can’t have every
single person like us. We can’t have every single person behave the way we
want, or do the things we want them to do.

I think sometimes, we need to remember our place, and
realise that a lot of the internal chatter that goes on within our minds is a
waste of energy, a lot of the anger and stress and dissatisfaction is caused by
our expectations which are often, when you look at them objectively,
unreasonable. Think about it. Is it reasonable to expect every single event to
unfold the way you want it to? Is it reasonable to expect everyone to like you?
Billions of things are going on in this world, billions of souls all going
through different walks of life. You are important, you are unique. But
sometimes it’s better to surrender yourself to the natural flow of things and remember
that the world does not revolve around you. There is a natural process. The world keeps spinning, plants keep growing, the sun goes up and then it goes down again, and life goes on... Remember that.

PS: Not entirely pleased with this piece, but it's been a while and I haven't been able to perfect it so I wanted to share. Let me know what you think!

But is it really all bad? We meet some amazing people through
school and university, make some everlasting memories never to be forgotten. We
laugh, we mess around, go crazy and experience some amazing things throughout
our youth that will help us find our way through this puzzle that is life. And
quite frankly, our biggest worries during these years are over whether we pass
an exam or not, which in all honesty will probably end up having little impact
on how our lives turn out to be in the long run or what path we decide to take.

At least when we’re at school, we’re guided and safeguarded
by our parents – no rent, no bills, no taxes… Is what comes next going to be
much better? Aside from a lucky few, most of us are going to have to work 9-5
(or longer) jobs for many years to come. Sure, if we take the right steps we’ll
find jobs we enjoy, and if we do, as the saying goes, I’m sure it’ll feel as
though we don’t have to work a day in our lives.

I can see why people look forward to that. The prospect of
doing something I love as a career and seeing that guide me through life onto
better things excites me as well. But what I struggle to understand is why a
lot of people, many of my friends included, are so rushed to get through school
and university, wishing their youth away.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not trying to bring you down by
suggesting that the next chapter of our lives is going to be shit or anything.
I’m simply asking why we don’t try and enjoy the good things instead of wishing
to be done with it as soon as possible only to start a new phase full of more
work and more responsibility.

We’re only young once. When I think back, I already can’t
believe how fast time’s gone by, and the fact that I’m almost done with
university baffles me every single time the thought crosses my mind. The fact
that I will soon have to start making some serious decisions that will help me
pave my way through life frightens me in a way, and I am constantly reminded of
how the years are slipping away in the blink of an eye…

The thing that comforts me the most is that speaking from my
own experience, I’ve done my best throughout the years to enjoy every single
moment, rather than to focus on the negatives. I always tried to tell myself
how quickly time would pass by, and I was always aware that the next chapter of
life is going to be a lot tougher, and a lot more serious.

I’m not going to lie, I miss high school, and I will most
certainly miss university. I also know many people who hated school back then but
now wish they could go back to those days when everything was a lot simpler.

Yes, I look forward to the next chapter, but I’m still
wondering, what the fuck is everyone rushing for?